Cochlear implant system with improved across-electrode interference model

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method and a cochlear implant system comprising; a microphone unit configured to receive an acoustical signal and transmit an audio signal based on the acoustical signal, a processor unit configured to receive the audio signal and process the audio signal into a plurality channels that are then used to generate a plurality of electrode pulses, an electrode array including a plurality of electrodes (M) configured to stimulate auditory nerves of a user of the cochlear implant system based on the plurality of electrode pulses, and wherein the processor unit is configured to assign an importance value to one or more electrodes of the plurality of electrodes, wherein each of the importance values is determined based on a status of an electrode pulse assigned to the respective electrode, and wherein the status of the electrode pulse of the plurality of electrode pulses is determined based on a masking model of across-electrode interferences imposed on that electrode pulse by other electrode pulses of the plurality of electrode pulses.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to a cochlear implant system with an improvedmasking model of across-electrode interference.

BACKGROUND

One major function of the cochlea in a normal (acoustic) hearing systemis to spectrally decompose incoming acoustic signals and encode theresulting spectral components as neural excitation of the auditorynerve. The spectral decomposition and neural encoding are performedtonotopically along the length of the cochlea, and the spectralresolution can be modelled by a filter-bank. Multi-channel/electrodecochlear implant (CI) systems also perform a spectral decomposition andconvert the resulting spectral components to electric current pulses,i.e. electrode pulses, that are delivered directly to the auditory nervefrom tonotopically-mapped electrodes inserted within the cochlea.Ideally, the current electrode pulses delivered by a given electrodeshould selectively stimulate the same population of nerve fibres aswould be recruited in a normal acoustic hearing system, for the sameacoustic input signal. In practice, however, there relatively smallnumber of electrodes available on current implants (between 12 to 22)and those electrodes typical produce broad current fields that elicitneural responses in substantially broader clusters of nerve fibres. Thisresults in both poorer spectral resolution and substantial overlap inexcitation elicited by different electrodes. Such excitation overlapproduces significant across-electrode interferences whereby stimulationon one electrode disrupts the neural excitation elicited by another.

To mitigate the effect of across-electrode interferences, a number of CIcoding strategies employ ‘N-of-M’ type channel selection methods tolimit the number of stimulating electrodes in a given time window (i.e.an epoch of time), to a subset (N) of the total number of availableelectrodes (N_(avail)). In such schemes, the N electrodes containing‘events’ (i.e. pulses or any spectro-temporal signal feature from whichelectrode pulses are ultimately derived) that convey the most‘important’ information from the underlying acoustic input signal in agiven time window are selected, and the remaining electrodes aredeactivated so as to ensure that when output by the implant, the mostimportant pulses are presented with minimal interference fromstimulation on electrodes that do not encode important information. mostimportant events are encoded with minimal interference from stimulationon electrodes that do not encode important events. Such methods may alsoemploy an importance threshold to discard events that do not meet abaseline importance criterion, before applying the N-of-M selection.Criteria for assessing electrode event importance may be based on (butnot limited to) energy, psychophysical masking, the periodicity in theunderlying acoustic signal, signal coherence across channels and ears,etc.

Electrode pulses delivered by a given electrode should selectivelystimulate the same population of nerve fibres as would be the case in anormal acoustic hearing system, for the same acoustic input signal. Inpractice, however, the broad current fields generated with cochlearimplant stimulation elicit neural responses in substantially broaderclusters of nerve fibres, resulting in both poorer spectral resolutionand substantial overlap in excitation elicited by different electrodes.This excitation overlap produces significant across-electrodeinterferences, i.e. masking, whereby stimulation on one electrodeconsumes some of the neural resources at the site of neighboringelectrodes, thus disrupting the neural excitation elicited bystimulation. Thus, by applying a masking model to the determination ofthe importance value would result in that the selection of thoseelectrode pulses would result in a reduced cross-electrode interference.The advantage of doing this is an improved spectral resolution of theelectrode pulses converted from the audio signal.

SUMMARY

Throughout the description ‘channel’ and ‘electrode’ are usedinterchangeably, and ‘event’ and ‘pulse’ are used interchangeably.

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a cochlear implantsystem aiming for overcoming the mentioned disadvantages with the abovedescribed known solution.

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a cochlear implantsystem including an electrode or channel selection scheme whichminimizes the amount of cross-electrode interference, the resolution ofspectral components from the audio signal that are encoded by pulsesdelivered by electrodes on the implant.

The aspect of the present disclosure is achieved by a cochlear implantsystem comprising; a microphone unit configured to receive an acousticalsignal and transmit an audio signal based on the acoustical signal, aprocessor unit configured to receive the audio signal and process theaudio signal into a plurality channels that are then used to generate aplurality of electrode pulses, an electrode array including a pluralityof electrodes (M) configured to stimulate auditory nerves of a user ofthe cochlear implant system based on the plurality of electrode pulses,and wherein the processor unit is configured to assign an importancevalue to one or more electrodes of the plurality of electrodes, whereineach of the importance values is determined based on a status of anelectrode pulse assigned to the respective electrode, and wherein thestatus of the electrode pulse of the plurality of electrode pulses isdetermined based on a masking model of across-electrode interferencesimposed on that electrode pulse by other electrode pulses of theplurality of electrode pulses.

The status of the electrode pulse of the plurality of electrode pulsesmay be determined based on across-electrode interferences, i.e. masking,imposed on an electrode pulse by other electrode pulses of the pluralityof electrode pulses. For example, if an electrode pulse receives a largeamount of masking from other electrode pulses, then the importance valueof that electrode which includes the electrode pulse would be low, or,if an electrode pulse receives a small amount of masking from otherelectrode pulses, then the importance value of the electrode whichincludes the electrode pulse would be high. The status of the electrodepulse of the plurality of electrode pulses may then be determined basedon the amount of masking received by the electrode pulse.

The status of the electrode pulse of the plurality of electrode pulsesmay be determined based on across-electrode interferences, i.e. masking,imposed on an electrode pulse by other electrode pulses of the pluralityof electrode pulses. For example, if an electrode pulse imposes a largeamount of masking to other electrode pulses, then the importance valueof the electrode which includes the electrode pulse would be low, or, ifan electrode pulse imposes a small amount of masking to other electrodepulses, then the importance value of the electrode which includes theelectrode pulse would be high. The status of the electrode pulse of theplurality of electrode pulses may then be determined based on the amountof masking imposed by the electrode pulse.

Ideally, the electrode pulses delivered by a given electrode shouldselectively stimulate the same population of nerve fibres as would bethe case in a normal acoustic hearing system, for the same acousticinput signal. In practice, however, the broad current fields generatedwith cochlear implant stimulation elicit neural responses insubstantially broader clusters of nerve fibres, resulting in both poorerspectral resolution and substantial overlap in excitation elicited bydifferent electrodes. This excitation overlap produces significantacross-electrode interferences, i.e. masking, whereby stimulation on oneelectrode consumes some of the neural resources at the site ofneighboring electrodes, thus disrupting the neural excitation elicitedby stimulation. Thus, by applying the masking model scheme to thedetermination of the importance value would result in that the cochlearimplant system is configured to select those electrode pulses whichresults in a reduced cross-electrode interference. The advantage ofdoing this is an improved spectral resolution of the electrode pulsesconverted from the audio signal.

The status of the electrode pulse of an electrode of the plurality ofelectrodes includes a determined amount of across-electrode interferenceinduced on the electrode pulse of the electrode by one or more electrodepulses of other electrodes of the plurality of electrodes based on themasking model scheme, wherein the masking model scheme comprisingdetermining spatial masking contributions of each of the one or moreelectrode pulses of the other electrodes induced on the electrode pulseof the electrode based on a spatial separation between the electrode andeach of the other electrodes. The spatial separation is between theelectrodes of the plurality of electrodes, and whereby the amount ofmasking decreases with increasing separation. The spatial separationdepends on the stimulation levels of the electrodes, e.g. higherstimulation levels cause more spread of the stimulation than low levelscausing a shorting of spatial separation between the electrodes.Furthermore, the spatial separation can vary between patients andbetween specific electrodes.

The status of the electrode pulse of an electrode of the plurality ofelectrodes includes a determined amount of across-electrode interferenceinduced on the electrode pulse of the electrode by one or more electrodepulses of other electrodes of the plurality of electrodes based on themasking model scheme, wherein the masking model scheme comprisesdetermining temporal masking contributions of each of the one or moreelectrode pulses of the other electrodes induced to on the electrodepulse of the electrode based on a pulse time difference between a firsttime of the electrode pulse of the electrode and a second time of eachof the one or more electrode pulses of the other electrodes, wherein thesecond time is preceding to the first time. The first time and thesecond time are defined to be within the time window, or the first timecould be defined within a first time window and the second time could bedefined within the first time window or previous time windows. Theamount of masking decays as the pulse time difference increases.

The masking model scheme may include masking contributions of theplurality of electrode pulses provided to the plurality of electrodes ofthe electrode array. The masking contributions may be determined duringa fitting session of the cochlea implant system to the user. The maskingcontributions in the masking model scheme may be continuously updatedduring the use of the masking model scheme and/or during a low powermode of the cochlea implant system. The low power mode may be initiatedby the system when the user is a sleep or has been. This may be detectedby an accelerometer applied to the system or by detecting that theexternal part is remove from the head of the user.

The masking model scheme may include temporal masking contributionsand/or spatial masking contributions. Thereby, the processor unit may beconfigured to assign an importance value to one or more electrodes ofthe plurality of electrodes, wherein each of the importance values isdetermined based on a status of an electrode pulse of the plurality ofelectrode pulses assigned to the respective electrode, and wherein thestatus includes an amount of spatial masking contributions and temporalmasking contributions of each of the one or more electrode pulses of theother electrodes induced induced to the electrode pulse from one or moreelectrode pulses, and the status is determined based on the maskingmodel scheme.

The importance value reflects the status of an electrode pulse to beallocated to an electrode, and the processor unit may be configured touse the importance value as an indicator for whether the electrodeshould be activated or not, which means, whether the electrode shouldtransfer the electrode pulse to the cochlea of the user. The importancevalue is determined by the processor unit

The masking model scheme may include both the determination of spatialmasking contributions and the determination of temporal maskingcontributions. The advantage of applying the masking model scheme to thedetermination of the importance value is that the informationtransferred up the auditory nerve is maximized by only including theelectrode pulses which impose less cross-electrode interference andwhich will contribute to the most perceptual effects and reducing powerconsumption.

The advantage of applying both the spatial masking contributions and thetemporal masking contributions. Having spatial on its own will not takeinto account the order in which pulses arrive, and will not take intoaccount the time difference between them. Having temporal effects ontheir own will take the pulse order and timings into account, but notthe differences in electrode positions. Having both in the masking modelscheme will therefore enable proper prediction of which pulses will bemasked.

It is important to include temporal effects for CI users because pulsesoccur at discrete times. Pulses that arrive earlier will mask those thatarrive later, but not the other way around.

The determined spatial masking contribution from each of the electrodepulses on the other electrodes may be multiplied by a temporal maskingdecay function that includes the pulse time difference between the pulseof the electrode and each of the pulses on the other electrode. Forexample, the electrode pulse may have a first time and a first otherelectrode pulse may have a second time, and the pulse time differencemay be between the first time and the second time, and a second otherelectrode pulse may have a second time, and where the pulse timedifference may be between the first time and the second time of thefirst other electrode pulse and/or between the first time and the secondtime of the second other electrode pulse. The temporal masking functionmay be fixed across all electrodes, maybe vary across electrodes, orvary across pairs of electrodes.

The pulse time difference could be changed by adjusting the first timeof the electrode pulse and/or the second time of the other electrodepulses. The adjustment of the first time and/or the second time may bebased on the determined cross-electrode interference imposed on theelectrode pulse and/or based on the determined cross-electrodeinterference induced by the other electrode pulses.

The pulse time difference could be changed by adjusting the timingbetween the first time window and the second time window or by changingthe time length of the first time window and/or the second time window.

The changing of the pulse time difference may be done by the processorunit.

Adjusting the timing of the electrode pulses provides a way of reducingcross-electrode interference without the need of changing the spatialseparation between the electrode pulses which may lead to acousticalartifacts. Thereby, the user will experience an enhanced perception inview of the application where only the spatial separation is changed forthe purpose of reducing the cross-electrode interference.

The temporal masking decay function may include a time constant whichmay be either fixed or vary across the electrodes of the plurality ofelectrodes which would yield electrode specific decay functions. Thedecay functions could be determined through psychophysical and/orobjective neurophysiological measures, such as Electrically EvokedCompound Action Potential (ECAP). The amount of masking imposed on agiven electrode pulse could be computed using all preceding pulses thatfall within the same time window, i.e. an analysis epoch, or couldadditionally consider pulses from previous time windows. The lattercould be useful if the previous time windows are sufficiently shorterthan the timescales over which masking decay occur. In that case,masking from previous pulses within the previous time windows could beincluded if the temporal masking factor has not yet decayed below acertain decay threshold, or the amount of masking (i.e. spatial maskingmultiplied by temporal decay factor) still exceeds a masking threshold.The advantage of including the temporal masking factor into thedetermination of cross-electrode interference is that

The spatial masking contribution may be determined based on spatialmasking functions for a given patient which could be derived directly byobtaining objective measurements (such as eCAP) or behaviouralpsychophysical measures. When using both methods, the procedure could bespeed-up by using models of spatial masking that would fit the patientby collecting a smaller number objective or behavioural measurements.Using eCAP, the masking imposed on an electrode emasked by stimulationon an electrode emasker, i.e. one electrode from the other electrodes,can be determined by stimulating on emasker and measuring the eCAPresponse using electrode emasked. By iteratively varying the electrodeemasked, while keeping the stimulating electrode fixed on emasked, thespatial masking function MS(emasked,emasker) caused by stimulation onemasker can then be derived. This can be repeated for a multiple ofstimulating electrodes to derive the masking functions associated withstimulation on each electrode. Alternatively, MS(emasked,emasker) may bedetermined, when using the ‘masker-probe’ eCAP method, by presenting theprobe stimulus to emasked and the masking stimulus to emasker and byrecording the eCAP response on emasked or on an adjacent electrodes. Byrepeating this process for different combinations of ‘probe’ and‘masker’ electrodes, a full set of spatial masking functions can bedetermined. A multitude of behavioural psychophysical tests could beused to also determine spatial functions. An example of such a testcould include stimulating on the electrode emasker at a fixed level anddetermining (using standard psychophysical methods), by stimulating onthe electrode emasked with different levels, the minimum level requiredto detect the stimulus on emasked in the presence of the stimulation onemasker. Once again, by iteratively varying the electrode of emasked,while keeping emasker fixed, the spatial masking functions associatedwith stimulation on emasker can be derived.

The temporal masking contributions of each of the one or more otherelectrodes may be expressed by a temporal masking function. The temporalmasking function can also be derived directly by obtaining objective orbehavioral measures for a range of time differences between leading andlagging pulses. This process may be speed-up by fitting a model oftemporal masking decay function using fewer numbers of measurements. Thedecay of masking with increasing pulse time difference can be determinedwith eCAP by varying the difference between the offset time of thestimulating electrode pulse and the time the eCAP response is measured.It can also be measured, when using the ‘probe-masker’ method, bymeasuring eCAPs with different intervals between masker and probe.Likewise, behavioral temporal masking tests could be run where adetection threshold level of a lagging pulse is measured, for a givenleading pulse level, for different time differences. In both cases, theeffect of both time and the spatial separation between the electrodes ofthe leading and lagging pulses can also be measured. For eCAP, theelectrode and time at which the measurements are made could be varied.Likewise for the behavioral test, both the electrode and the timing ofthe lagging pulse could be varied.

The processing unit may be configured to control the cross-electrodeinterference in between the electrode pulses of the plurality ofelectrodes by changing the first time of the electrode pulse of theelectrode and/or the preceding time of each of the one or more electrodepulses of the other electrodes. For example, if cross-electrodeinterferences is assumed to imposed a greater cognitive load on users,the cochlear implant system may include a sensor configured to measurecognitive load of the user, and thereby, based on the measurement signalincluding the measured cognitive load the processing unit is configuredto control the cross-electrode interference. The sensor may be part ofthe electrode array, the implant part or an external part connected tothe cochlear implant system. The sensor may include one or moreelectrode pads made of IrO2.

The processing unit may be configured to control the cross-electrodeinterference between the electrode pulses of the plurality of electrodesby applying a time delay between a first time window and a second timewindow, wherein in both of the time windows the processor unit isconfigured to select a subset of electrodes of the plurality ofelectrodes and/or to select electrodes of the main set of electrode ofthe plurality of electrodes.

The first time, the preceding times, and the time delay may bedetermined continuously by the processor unit.

The first time, the preceding times, and the time delay may bedetermined continuously by the processor unit based on a masking measureprovided by the electrodes of the plurality of electrodes during fittingof the cochlear implant system and/or during operation of the cochlearimplant system.

The processing unit may be configured to control the cross-electrodeinterference based on a subjective measure, such as a questionnaire,being introduced to the user via a graphical user interface. The usermay receive one or more questions relating to the users perceivabilityof the generated stimulation provided to his/hers auditory nerves. Thegraphical user interface includes an input interface for receiving theuser's answers to the questions. The processing unit may receive acommand signal which determines the controlling of the cross-electrodeinterference. The command signal may be determined, based on thequestionnaire and the answers from the user, by an external server or acomputer connected to the graphical user interface. The command signalmay for example include the amount of changing of the pulse timedifference and/or the changing of the time windows and/or the delaybetween the time windows, such as the first time window and the secondtime window. The graphical user interface may be part of a smartphone, atablet, or any computational device. The input interface may beseparated from the graphical user interface.

The processor unit may be configured to determine the status of anelectrode pulse, by determining a masking adjusted energy/charge/levelincluding an estimated pulse energy/charge/level of the electrode pulseminus the amount of across-electrode interference induced to theelectrode pulse from the one or more electrode pulses of the otherelectrodes.

The processor unit may be configured to determine the status of anelectrode pulse, by determining a masking-weighted energy/charge/levelthat comprises the estimated pulse energy/charge/level of that electrodepulse multiplied by an across-electrode interference scaling factor(i.e. between 0 and 1) that includes an effective energy/charge/level ofthe electrode pulse after considering the amount of across-electrodeinterference induced to the electrode pulse from the one or moreelectrode pulses of the other electrodes, whereby the effectiveenergy/charge/level provides an estimate of the energy/charge/level thatwould yield the same amount of activity in the auditory nerve as thepulse of interest, if across-electrode interference was absent.

These masking adjusted energy/charge/level would essentially reflect theamount of information transfer that each electrode pulse would be ableto transmit up the auditory nerve, thus the salience/strength of theperceptual effect it would elicit, given the level and relative timingthe pulse on each electrode. Since the parameter/feature of interest isnot directly related to masking-weighted energy/charge,channels/electrodes with high parameter/feature values may not necessaryhave their information reliably transferred up the auditory nerve due tomasking.

Parameters/features may for example be periodicity/temporal-coherence,envelope modulation depth and shape, interaural coherence and coherenceacross microphones of the audio signal.

The status of an electrode pulse may be determined based on values ofthe parameters/features. For example, in a first stage, a set ofelectrodes could first be identified by computing the parameter/featurevalue on each electrodes having assigned an electrode pulse andselecting the highest valued electrodes, i.e. the electrodes with thehighest parameter/feature values. These selected electrodes would thenconstitute the electrodes that would best convey the perceptual featureof interest for the user of the cochlear implant system, if maskingeffects were absent. In a second stage, the masking adjustedenergy/charge/level could then be computed for all possible electrodesor for just the subset of highest valued electrodes. These maskingadjusted energy/charge/levels would essentially reflect the amount ofinformation transfer that each channel/electrode pulse would be able totransmit up the auditory nerve, thus the salience/strength of theperceptual effect it would elicit, given the level and relative timingthe electrode pulse on each electrode. Since the parameter/feature ofinterest is not directly related to masking adjustedenergy/charge/levels, electrodes with high importance values based onparameter/feature of interest may not necessarily have their informationreliably transferred up the auditory nerve due to masking. Therefore, anadditional process could be introduced whereby the energy/charge of thehighest importance valued electrodes is increased, so as to increasetheir masking-weighted energy/charge values and thus increase thecapacity of those electrodes to transmit information up the auditorynerve. The range of possible energy/charge adjustments should be limitedto prevent excessively large (and unsafe) changes in pulseenergy/charge. The amount of masking adjusted energy/charge/levelapplied to a given electrode could also be modulated by theparameter/feature value of that electrode, so that electrodes withhighest parameter values are adjusted so as to have highest maskingadjusted energy/charge/level than electrodes with lowerparameter/feature values. Following these energy/charge adjustments, thedetermination of the masking adjusted energy/charge/level could beapplied using all electrodes or just the subset of highest valuedelectrodes. The result would be that the electrodes with the highestmasking adjusted energy/charge/level would be selected for stimulation,whereby some the energy/charge/level on some electrodes may have beenboosted to compensate for masking effects.

The processing unit may then be configured to amplify the pulseenergy/charge/level of the electrode pulse for boosting the energy leveland for compensating for the masking effect, i.e. the cross-electrodeinterference.

The processing unit may be configured to set the cochlear implant systeminto a power saving mode by increasing the importance threshold value.By increasing the threshold value more electrode pulses would not beselected by the processor unit. In other words, the processor unit isconfigured to remove electrode pulses that are assumed to not provide aperceptual benefit, and thus, save power and transmitting fewer pulses.

The processor unit may be configured to determine a spatial maskingcontribution function and/or a temporal masking contribution of eachelectrode of the plurality of electrodes by providing a firststimulation with a first stimulation level to a first electrode of theplurality of electrodes, providing a second stimulation with a secondstimulation level to a second electrode of the plurality of electrodes,measuring a plurality of spatial masking contributions or a plurality oftemporal masking contributions from the first electrode to the secondelectrode at different second stimulation levels by measuring anelectrically evoked compound action potential of the second electrode orby behavioral psychophysical measures of a user of the cochlear implantsystem. The spatial masking contribution function or the temporalmasking contribution includes the plurality of spatial maskingcontributions or the temporal masking contributions, respectively.

The first stimulation level is fixed during measurement of the pluralityof spatial masking contributions or the plurality of temporal maskingcontributions.

A further aspect of the present disclosure is achieved by a method forselecting a main set of electrodes of a plurality of electrodes for acochlear implant system, the method comprising: receiving an acousticalsignal and transmitting an audio signal based on the acoustical signal,processing the audio signal into a plurality of electrode pulses,determining a status of the electrode pulse of the plurality ofelectrode pulses based on a masking model of across-electrodeinterferences imposed on that electrode pulse by other electrode pulsesof the plurality of electrode pulses, assigning an importance value toone or more electrode of the plurality of electrodes, wherein each ofthe importance values is determined based on a status of the electrodepulse assigned to the respective electrode, selecting a main set ofelectrodes (1N) of the plurality of electrodes (M) during a time window,where the importance value of each of the selected electrodes (N) of themain set of electrodes (1N) is larger or equal to an importancethreshold value, activating the electrodes of the main set of electrodesto stimulate auditory nerves based on the electrode pulses of theplurality of electrode pulses.

The aspect of the present disclosure is achieved by a cochlear implantsystem comprising a microphone unit configured to receive an acousticalsignal and transmit an audio signal based on the acoustical signal, aprocessor unit configured to receive the audio signal and process theaudio signal into a plurality of electrode pulses, an electrode arrayincluding a plurality of electrodes (M) configured to stimulate auditorynerves of a user of the cochlear implant system based on the pluralityof electrode pulses.

The processor unit may be configured to assign an importance value toone or more channels of the plurality of channels, or one or moreelectrodes of the plurality of electrodes, wherein each of theimportance values may be determined based on a status of an electrodepulse assigned to the respective channel or electrode.

The processor unit may further be configured to select a main set ofelectrodes of the plurality of electrodes during a time window, i.e. anepoch analysis frame, where the importance value of each of the selectedelectrodes of the main set of electrodes is larger or equal to animportance threshold value. The importance threshold value may forexample be the maximum of the Nth highest electrode importance value oran absolute minimum importance value. The importance threshold value mayfor example be:

-   -   a minimum allowable masking-weighted energy/charge/level value        (resulting in fewer electrodes being activated to stimulate        auditory nerves.),    -   a minimum signal-to-noise ratio in the acoustic signal from        which an electrode pulse is derived,    -   a minimum estimated pulse energy level of an electrode pulse,    -   a minimum value of an auto-correlation amplitude of the        underlying acoustic signal, or    -   a minimum interaural coherence value of the underlying acoustic        signals received at the two ears of the user.

The processor unit may further be configured to activate the electrodesof the main set of electrodes to stimulate auditory nerves based on theelectrode pulses of the plurality of electrode pulses.

The processor unit may reserve the electrodes of the main set ofelectrodes into a reserved mode during a reservation period.

The processor unit may include an electrode selection scheme whichincludes the steps of assigning the importance value to one or moreelectrodes and selecting one or more electrodes to the main set ofelectrodes.

The electrode selection scheme may further comprise reserving thoseelectrodes of the main set of electrodes into a reserved mode during areservation period.

In the proposed electrode selection scheme each electrode may enter areserved mode for a duration, i.e. a reservation period, after anelectrode pulse on that electrode has been selected. While in a reservedmode, that electrode will influence electrode selection duringsubsequent (future) epochs, i.e. time windows, regardless of whether anelectrode pulse is present on that electrode in those epochs.

The duration of the reserved mode can be constant or vary across timeand electrodes, and can be assigned either statically or adaptively. Forexample, the reservation period on a given electrode could be staticallyassigned to the inverse of the channel centre-frequency of an electrodeor adaptively assigned to the inverse of a short-term estimate offrequency of a key spectral feature in the acoustic signal. Duringinstances when a new electrode pulse arrives on an electrode that isalready in a reserved mode, the reservation mode of that electrode couldbe deactivated, and the electrode would compete to be selected again bythe N-of-M scheme. Alternatively, if an electrode pulse, i.e. an event,arrives on an electrode that is already in reserved mode, a check couldbe made to see if that electrode would be selected if it had to competefor selection by the N-of-M scheme. If it would be selected, thatelectrode pulse would then be selected, and the electrode would enterits reserved mode again. If not, the electrode pulse could be ignored,and the electrode could remain in its current reserved mode until thatmode expires, i.e. expiration of the reservation period. Alternatively,an electrode could maintain a reserved mode until the next occurrence ofan electrode pulse on that electrode. In each time window, the N_(k)electrodes with the highest importance values and electrode pulses areselected, where the number N_(k) of selected electrodes can vary acrossthe time windows depending on the number of non-stimulating electrodesin reserved mode and N_(k)≤N, where N is a subset of electrodes of thetotal number of available electrodes.

The reservation period may be different or the same for each of theelectrodes of the main set of electrodes during the time window and/orduring the coming time windows.

The reservation period may be equal or longer than the time window.

The determined reservation period for each of the electrodes may bebased on the frequency content of each of the electrodes or theelectrode pulses. For example, electrodes with higher frequency contentwill generate pulses more often than low frequency electrodes. Thiswould give the electrodes with higher frequency content an undueadvantage over the electrodes with lower frequency content. This isavoided by determining the reservation period for each of the electrodesbased on the frequency content.

If the electrode being selected is reserved and has an assignedelectrode pulse, the reservation period of that electrode is renewed.

Within a time window an electrode could be assigned with both animportance value and a tie-breaker importance value.

Within a time window the electrode could be assigned with a tie-breakerimportance value, wherein the tie-breaker importance value must bedifferent from the importance value assigned to the electrode in aprevious time window.

The processor unit may be configured to assign a tie-breaker importancevalue to the electrodes of the plurality of electrodes, where thetie-breaker importance value is different from the assigned importancevalue. The processor unit may be configured to select one or moreelectrodes being part of the tie-breaker, where the tie-breakerimportance value of each of the selected electrodes is larger than orequal to the importance threshold value of the respective electrodes.The tie-breaker importance value could include: channel centerfrequency, pulse energy, Signal-to-noise-ratio, interaural coherence,periodicity, and/or cross-electrode interference.

In the case where two or more active electrodes pulses carryingelectrodes have the same importance metric value, but only a subset ofthose electrodes can be selected, a secondary ‘tie-breaker’ importancevalue could used to select that subset. The tie-breaker importance valuemust be different from the importance value, previously defined, andcould include: channel center frequency, pulse energy,Signal-to-noise-ratio, interaural coherence, periodicity, etc.

The proposed selection scheme of electrode could be applied to eitherunilateral or bilateral sound coding strategies, where electrodes in thelatter can be assessed and selected by comparing stimulation signalsprovided at the two ears of the user.

The cochlear implant system may comprise a memory unit which isconfigured to store the importance values of the one or more electrodes,for the current time window and possibly for one or more (or no)previous time windows. The processor unit is configured to update theimportance value continuously based on changes to the status of anelectrode pulse assigned to the respective electrode.

The memory unit is connected to the processor unit and configured toreceive and transmit the importance value of the one or more electrodes.

The processor unit may be configured to select a subset of electrodes ofthe main set of electrodes during the reservation period and no otherelectrodes of the plurality of electrodes are allowed to be selected,and wherein each of the electrodes of the subset of electrodes has animportance value that is larger or equal to the importance thresholdvalue, and wherein the processor unit is configured to activate theelectrodes of the subset of electrodes to stimulate auditory nervesbased on the electrode pulses of the plurality of electrode pulses.

The processor unit may be configured to select a subset of electrodes ofthe plurality of electrodes, where each selected electrode of the subsetof electrodes is assigned with an electrode pulse and with an importancevalue being larger or equal to the importance threshold value, and wherethe subset of electrodes includes a maximum number of electrodes N_(k)determined by N (the maximum allowable active electrodes within a timewindow, i.e. an epoch) minus the number of electrodes do not currentlyhave an active pulse but are in the reserved mode. In other words, theelectrode array or the plurality of electrodes includes in total Mnumber of electrodes, and N_(k) of M is allowed to be active during atime window k, where N_(k) can differ across time windows. If a ‘soft’reservated mode is employed, the electrodes in reserved modes will onlyblock an electrode pulse-conveying electrode if the computed importancevalue of the event does not exceed an importance value assigned to thereserved electrode.

This may be preferable for preventing high importance events from beingblocked by reserved electrodes that previously entered the reserved modewith a lower importance value. The importance value of an electrode in areserved mode could be assigned and held constant at the instance thechannel/electrode was reserved or could vary over-time (e.g. decay astime passes). Alternately, the importance value of a reserved electrodeat any given time could be computed independently from the importancevalue computed at the time the electrode became reserved.

Rather than holding the importance value of an electrode constant whenthat electrode enters the ‘soft’ reserved state, the importance value ofthat electrode could continue to be updated in each time window whilethat electrode is reserved. The electrode would be selected to enter thereservation mode during a time window when both an electrode pulse waspresent on that electrode, and the electrode pulse had an importancevalue equal to or larger than the importance threshold value. Byupdating the importance value of the reserved electrode in subsequenttime windows, the ability of that electrode to prevent the selection ofother active electrode pulse carrying electrodes from being selectedwould be dependent on the importance value of the (acoustic) content ofthe channel for that electrode within that current time window ratherthan the importance value during the time window the electrode enteredthe reserved mode.

The processor unit may be configured to select a subset of electrodes ofthe plurality of electrodes (i.e. includes electrodes which are not partof the main set of electrodes) and/or of the main set of electrodesduring the reservation period, wherein each the electrodes of the subsetof electrodes has an importance value that is larger or equal to theimportance threshold value, and wherein the processor unit is configuredto activate the electrodes of the subset of electrodes to stimulateauditory nerves based on the electrode pulses of the plurality ofelectrode pulses.

The importance threshold value is determined as following determining aminimum importance threshold value, determining a minimum importancevalue of the subset and/or main set of electrodes, determining theimportance threshold value as being equal to the minimum importancevalue, if the minimum importance value is larger or equal to the minimumimportance threshold value, or determining the importance thresholdvalue as being equal to the minimum importance threshold value, if theminimum importance value is smaller than the minimum importancethreshold value.

For example, the importance value may be based on noise level, and thecochlear implant system may define an acceptable noise level of 40 dBSPL. Each electrode which has a noise level above this acceptable level,plus a noise error margin (+3 dB) is not selected. Likewise, a systemmay also have a noise floor of 20 dB SPL. Each electrode with signallevels below the noise floor will not be selected.

The processor unit may be configured to replace an electrode of the mainset of electrodes with a new electrode where the importance value of thereplaced electrode is less than the importance threshold value and wherethe importance value of the new electrode is equal or larger than theimportance threshold value. Thereby, a more important electrode pulsemay be selected over a less important electrode pulse which were inreserve mode. The cochlear implant system becomes more flexible tosudden changes in the audio signal, for example, in noisy situations,where sudden changes of the importance value of each electrodes mayappear during the reservation period

The processor unit may be configured to update the main set ofelectrodes by adding a new electrode of the plurality of electrodes tothe main set of electrodes where the importance value of the newelectrode is larger or equal to the first threshold importance value.

The number of electrodes of the main set or the subset of electrodes maynot go beyond the total number of available electrodes (N_(avail)).

The processor unit may be configured to update the main set ofelectrodes by renewing the reservation period of an electrode of themain set of electrodes when a new pulse generating event occurs on thatelectrode with an importance value that is greater than or equal to theimportance threshold value.

The processor unit may be configured to update the main set ofelectrodes by removing an electrode from the main set of electrodes whenthe reservation period of that electrode has expired, and before thatreservation period could be renewed.

The importance values of the electrodes of the subset of electrodes arelarger than the importance values of the electrodes not being selected.

The importance threshold value may be determined such that the main setand/or the subset of electrodes includes a number of active electrodesof between 2 to 5 electrodes, 2 to 10 electrodes, 2 to 15 electrodes, 2to 25 electrodes or above 25 electrodes.

The ideal maximum number of stimulating electrodes, N, within a giventime frame can vary across patients and across stimuli.

For example, for patients with low amounts of across-electrodeinterference, i.e. spread-of-excitation and spatial masking, it may bepossible to stimulate a greater number of electrodes without introducingsignificant electrode interactions in comparison to patients with highmounts of across-electrode interference. Conversely, patients who sufferhigh amounts of spread-of-excitation may be being stimulated on too manyelectrodes and thus experience significant electrode interactions;reducing the number of active electrodes could also reduce the powerconsumption of the cochlear implant system for those patients.Furthermore, if there is significant variability in the across-electrodeinterference (within a patient), an optimal number of active electrodesmay actually vary depending on the specific selection of electrodes. Itis therefore beneficial to determine the optimal N electrodes by:

-   -   fitting and tailoring the number of active electrodes to an        individual patient/user, and/or    -   adapting the number of active electrodes on a short-term basis        depending on the selected electrodes.

A spread-of-excitation could be estimated on each electrode for a givenpatient of the cochlear implant system. This could be achieved, forexample, by using electrically evoked compound action potential (eCAP)measurements. Using standard eCAP measurement, techniques, aspread-of-excitation function can for example be estimated for a givenelectrode by stimulating on that electrode, i.e. stimulation electrode,and measuring the ECAP response on each electrode of the electrode, i.eprobe measurement electrode. Thereby, a spread-of-excitation functionmay be determined including the measured ECAP response as a function ofthe electrode number for a given stimulation electrode. The measuredECAP response may be expressed as a normalized ECAP magnitude of themeasured ECAP response which reflects the amount of spatial maskingcontribution each measurement electrode experience in response tostimulation provided by the stimulation electrode, i.e. higher ECAPmagnitudes indicate higher amounts of spatial masking contribution. Ametric describing the spread width of spatial masking contribution forthe stimulation electrode could then be defined to include, for example,the 3 dB bandwidth of the function or a multiple of the function'sstandard deviation, etc. A spread-of-excitation function andspread-width metric could then be computed for each electrode, and anoptimal number of active electrodes could then be computed based on thespread-of-excitation function and the spread-width metric for eachelectrode so as to produce an allowed amount of spatial maskingcontribution, i.e. electrode interference. One possible method tocompute the number of active electrodes is given by:

${N_{N - {of} - M} = {{round}\left( \frac{N_{array}}{\frac{1}{N_{array}}{\sum_{p = 1}^{N_{array}}{w(p)}}} \right)}},$

where N_(array) gives the number of electrodes on the electrode array,the expression in the denominator gives the average spread-width of allelectrodes and round( ) describes the process of rounding the outcome ofthe equation to an integer value (up, down or closest).

The method for determining the optimal number of active electrodes couldbe performed automatically by an implant fitting software, whereby oneor more eCAPs is measured for every combination of stimulation electrodeand measurement electrode to produce the on the spread-of-excitationfunctions for each electrode.

The spread-of-excitation function and/or spread-width metric of eachelectrodes may be stored in the memory unit of the cochlear implantsystem.

The processor unit may be configured to compute an optimal number ofactive electrodes for a given audio signal based on thespread-of-excitation function and the spread-width metric for eachelectrode so as to produce an allowed amount of spatial maskingcontribution, i.e. electrode interference.

The optimal number of active electrodes may vary depending on thespecific electrodes of the electrode array that are selected. Electrodeswith broader spread-widths are selected in a given time window, i.e. anepoch, the optimal number of active electrodes could be lower than whenelectrodes with narrower spread-widths are chosen. Electrodes could beiteratively selected within a given time window until the summedspread-width of those selected electrodes exceeds a pre-defined maximumallowed summed spread-width. Other parameters, such as pulse energy ofan electrode for example, could also be considered when computing thesummed spread width, and by weighting the spread-width of eachelectrodes by those parameters. Furthermore, establishing predefinedmaximum summed spread-widths for specific group of adjacent electrodesof the electrode array (i.e. specific regions of the electrode array),and iteratively selecting electrodes of the group of adjacent electrodesuntil the allowed summed spread-width for that group is exceeded. Inthis case, the optimal value of active electrodes would vary both acrossthe electrode array and locally in different groups of adjacentelectrodes of the electrode array. This may have the benefit of furtherreducing the amount of electrode interaction that occurs betweenstimulating electrodes of the electrode array.

A fitting software could employ current spread models that predict thespread-of-excitation functions on each electrode, and that can be fittedto the patient of the cochlear implant system by collecting few eCAPmeasures of different stimulation electrodes of the electrode array. Forexample, if the spread-of-excitation on each electrode is assumed to bemodelled by a specific function, e.g. a Gaussian function, the fittingsoftware is configured to measure eCAPs on a subset of probe electrodescombinations, and then fit the assumed function using standard curvefitting methods. More complex models could also be employed. The use ofsuch models may reduce the overall time needed to collect eCAP data, andthus the time required to determine the optimal amount of activeelectrodes during a clinical fitting session.

The spread-of-excitation function may include spatial maskingcontribution and/or temporal masking contribution.

The number of electrodes in the main set and/or the subset of electrodesmay be determined by the method for determining the optimal number ofactive electrodes.

The fitting software may be part of a fitting system.

Definitions

In the present context, the cochlear stimulation system or a hearing aidincluding the cochlear stimulation system refers to a device, which isadapted to improve and/or augment hearing capability of a user byreceiving acoustic signals from the user's surroundings, generatingcorresponding electric audio signals, possibly modifying the electricaudio signals and providing the possibly modified electric audio signalsas audible signals to at least one of the user's ears via stimulationprovided by an array of electrodes.

More generally, a hearing aid comprises an input transducer forreceiving an acoustic signal from a user's surroundings and providing acorresponding input audio signal and/or a receiver for electronically(i.e. wired or wirelessly) receiving an input audio signal, a (typicallyconfigurable) signal processing circuit (e.g. a signal processor, e.g.comprising a configurable (programmable) processor, e.g. a digitalsignal processor) for processing the input audio signal and an outputunit for providing an audible signal to the user in dependence on theprocessed audio signal. The signal processor may be adapted to processthe input signal in the time domain or in a number of frequency bands.In some hearing aids, an amplifier and/or compressor may constitute thesignal processing circuit. The signal processing circuit typicallycomprises one or more (integrated or separate) memory elements forexecuting programs and/or for storing parameters used (or potentiallyused) in the processing and/or for storing information relevant for thefunction of the hearing aid and/or for storing information (e.g.processed information, e.g. provided by the signal processing circuit),e.g. for use in connection with an interface to a user and/or aninterface to a programming device. In some hearing aids, the output unitmay comprise transducer, such as e.g. a vibrator for providing astructure-borne or liquid-borne acoustic signal. In some hearing aids,the output unit may comprise one or more output electrodes for providingelectric signals (e.g. a multi-electrode array for electricallystimulating the cochlear nerve).

In some hearing aids, the vibrator may be adapted to provide astructure-borne acoustic signal transcutaneously or percutaneously tothe skull bone. In some hearing aids, the vibrator may be implanted inthe middle ear and/or in the inner ear. In some hearing aids, thevibrator may be adapted to provide a structure-borne acoustic signal toa middle-ear bone and/or to the cochlea. In some hearing aids, thevibrator may be adapted to provide a liquid-borne acoustic signal to thecochlear liquid, e.g. through the oval window. In some hearing aids, theoutput electrodes may be implanted in the cochlea or on the inside ofthe skull bone and may be adapted to provide the electric signals to thehair cells of the cochlea, to one or more hearing nerves, to theauditory brainstem, to the auditory midbrain, to the auditory cortexand/or to other parts of the cerebral cortex.

A ‘hearing system’ refers to a system comprising one or two hearingaids, e.g. one BTE unit and a cochlear implant, and a ‘binaural hearingaid system’ refers to a system comprising two hearing aids and beingadapted to cooperatively provide audible signals to both of the user'sears. Hearing aid systems or binaural hearing aid systems may furthercomprise one or more ‘auxiliary devices’, which communicate with thehearing aid(s) and affect and/or benefit from the function of thehearing aid(s). Auxiliary devices may be e.g. remote controls, audiogateway devices, mobile phones (e.g. SmartPhones), or music players.Hearing aid, hearing aids systems or binaural hearing aid systems maye.g. be used for compensating for a hearing-impaired person's loss ofhearing capability and/or augmenting a normal-hearing person's hearingcapability and/or conveying electronic audio signals to a person.Hearing aids or hearing aid systems may e.g. form part of or interactwith public-address systems, active ear protection systems, handsfreetelephone systems, car audio systems, entertainment (e.g. karaoke)systems, teleconferencing systems, classroom amplification systems, etc.

An ‘unit’ is a device with technical and functional features. The ‘unit’is considered to be a device within this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The aspects of the disclosure may be best understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures.The figures are schematic and simplified for clarity, and they just showdetails to improve the understanding of the claims, while other detailsare left out. Throughout, the same reference numerals are used foridentical or corresponding parts. The individual features of each aspectmay each be combined with any or all features of the other aspects.These and other aspects, features and/or technical effect will beapparent from and elucidated with reference to the illustrationsdescribed hereinafter in which:

FIGS. 1A to 1C, illustrate examples of a cochlear implant system,

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an electrode array arranged within acochlea of a user of the cochlear implant system,

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate an example of the masking model schemeincluding spatial masking contributions,

FIGS. 7A to 7E illustrate an example of the masking model schemeincluding temporal masking contributions,

FIG. 8 illustrates an example where the masking model scheme includesboth the determination of the spatial masking contributions and thedetermination of the temporal masking contributions,

FIGS. 9A to 9D illustrates different examples of the cochlear implantsystem,

FIGS. 2A and 2B, illustrate a known ‘N-of-M’ type electrode selectionoften employed in sound coding strategies,

FIGS. 3A-3C, illustrate an example of the processor unit selecting andreserving N number of electrodes of a plurality of electrodes (M), and

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of determining the importance thresholdvalue.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of various configurations. Thedetailed description includes specific details for the purpose ofproviding a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may bepracticed without these specific details. Several aspects of theapparatus and methods are described by various blocks, functional units,modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc.(collectively referred to as “elements”). Depending upon particularapplication, design constraints or other reasons, these elements may beimplemented using electronic hardware, computer program, or anycombination thereof.

It is intended that the structural features of the devices describedabove, either in the detailed description and/or in the claims, may becombined with steps of the method for determining Temporal FineStructure parameter, when appropriately substituted by a correspondingprocess.

As used, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well (i.e. to have the meaning “at least one”),unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood thatthe terms “includes,” “comprises,” “including,” and/or “comprising,”when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof. It will also be understood that when an element is referred toas being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element but an intervening elementsmay also be present, unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore,“connected” or “coupled” as used herein may include wirelessly connectedor coupled. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and allcombinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The steps ofany disclosed method is not limited to the exact order stated herein,unless expressly stated otherwise.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to“one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “an aspect” or features includedas “may” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment of the disclosure. Furthermore, the particular features,structures or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or moreembodiments of the disclosure. The previous description is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspectsdescribed herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other aspects.

The claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein,but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of theclaims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intendedto mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather“one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some”refers to one or more.

Accordingly, the scope should be judged in terms of the claims thatfollow.

FIGS. 1A to 1C illustrate an example of a cochlear implant system 1,comprising a microphone unit 2 configured to receive an acousticalsignal and transmit an audio signal based on the acoustical signal. Thecochlear implant system 1 includes a processor unit 3 configured toreceive the audio signal and process the audio signal into a pluralityof electrode pulses and an electrode array 4 including a plurality ofelectrodes 5 configured to stimulate auditory nerves of a user of thecochlear implant system based on the plurality of electrode pulses.

In FIGS. 1A to 1C the electrode array 4 is arranged within a cochlea 10of a user of the cochlear implant system 1.

In FIGS. 1A to 1C the processor unit 3 is configured to assign animportance value to one or more electrodes of the plurality ofelectrodes 5, wherein each of the importance values is determined basedon a status of an electrode pulse assigned to the respective electrode.The processing unit 3 is further configured to select a main set ofelectrodes MS of the plurality of electrodes M during a time window TW,where the importance value of each of the selected electrodes of themain set of electrodes MS is larger or equal to an importance thresholdvalue. The processor unit 3 is configured to activate the electrodes ofthe main set of electrodes to stimulate auditory nerves based on theelectrode pulses of the plurality of electrode pulses, and reserve theelectrodes of the main set of electrodes MS into a reserving mode duringa reservation period.

In FIGS. 1A and 1B, the cochlear implant system 1 includes an externalpart 20 arranged on the head of the user of the cochlear implant system1 and an implant part 30 arranged under the skin 50 of the user. Theexternal part 20 includes a first inductive interface 21 and the implantpart 30 includes a second inductive interface 31, wherein the externalpart 20 is configured to communicate via the first inductive interface21 to the second inductive interface 31 of the implant part 30. Theimplant part 30 is connected to the electrode array 10.

In FIG. 1A, the processor unit 3 is arranged within the external part20, and the external part 20 includes a memory unit 22. In anotherexample, the memory unit 22 may be arranged within the implant part 30.The memory unit is configured to store the importance values of the oneor more electrodes, and the processor unit may be configured to updatethe importance value continuously based on changes to the status of anelectrode pulse assigned to the respective electrode.

In FIG. 1B, the processor unit 3 is arranged within the implant part 30.

In FIG. 1C, the cochlear implant system 1 includes an implant part 30,wherein the implant part 30 includes the microphone 2, the processorunit 3 and the memory unit 22. Optionally, the implant part may includea communication interface configured for communicating inductively orvia an electromagnetic link, such as an RF link, with an externaldevice, such as a remote processor unit, a smartphone or any computabledevice.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an electrode array 4 arranged within acochlea 10 of the user of the cochlear implant system 1. The cochleaincludes multiple auditory nerves 11 which are to be stimulated by theelectrodes (5A, 5B) of the electrodes array 4. In this example theelectrodes (5A,5B) produce an excitation overlap 61 which producessignificant across-electrode interferences, i.e. masking, wherebystimulation on one of the two electrodes (5A,5B) consumes some of theneural resources of the auditory nerves at the site of neighbouringelectrodes (5A,5B), thus disrupting the neural excitation elicited bystimulation.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate an example of the masking model schemeincluding spatial masking contributions. In FIG. 6A the processor unit 3has selected and activated two electrodes (5A,5B) within a first timewindow (TW), and in FIG. 6B, the processor unit 3 has selected andactivated two electrodes (5A,5B) within a second time window (TW). Thespatial separation between the two electrodes activated within the firsttime window is less than the spatial separation between the twoelectrodes activated within the second time window. The spatialseparation is determined based on the respective stimulation levels ofthe two electrodes, and in the second time window (TW) the processorunit 3 has reduced at least one of the two electrodes's stimulationlevel for reducing the spatial masking contributions. Alternatively, thespatial separation could be increased by selecting electrodes (5A,5C)which physically are arranged further away from each other. In FIG. 6A,the activation of the two electrodes (5A,5B) generates excitationoverlap 61 which results in cross-electrode interference. In FIG. 6B,the spatial separation has increased and which results in elimination ofthe excitation overlap 61. The change in the spatial separation isprovided by the masking model scheme which determines spatial maskingcontributions of each of the two electrode pulses of the two electrodes(5A, 5B).

FIGS. 7A to 7E illustrate an example of the masking model schemeincluding temporal masking contributions, more specifically,cross-electrode interference between electrodes (5A, 5B) is determinedby the temporal masking contributions of each of the two electrodepulses of the two electrodes (5A, 5B). In FIGS. 7B and 7C the electrodesto be activated are the same and are seen in FIG. 7A. In FIG. 7A, theexcitation overlap 61 is seen for the case where a pulse time differenceis ΔT1 and where a time delay ΔTW is zero between a first time windowTW1 and a second time window TW2. In both time windows, the processorunit 3 is configured to select a main set of electrodes 41 of theplurality of electrodes, where the importance value of each of theselected electrodes of the main set 41 of electrodes or subset ofelectrodes 40 is larger or equal to an importance threshold value.

In FIG. 7B, the pulse time difference ΔT1 and ΔT2 is between a firsttime and a second time of the electrode pulses assigned to the twoelectrodes (5A,5B), respectively. The processor unit 3 increases thepulse time difference ΔT1 to ΔT2 and which results in a reduction of thecross-electrode interference. The increase of the pulse time differenceΔT is based on the masking model scheme which determines temporalmasking contributions of each of the two electrode pulses of the twoelectrodes (5A, 5B).

FIG. 7C illustrates an example where a time delay ΔTW1 between the firsttime window TW1 and the second time window TW2 is set to zero. In thisexample, the cross-electrode interference is high. Then, the processorunit 3 increases the time delay between the two time windows (TW1, TW2)based on the masking model scheme and which results in a reducedcross-electrode interference between the activated electrodes (5A, 5B).

FIG. 7D illustrates an example of an electrodogram of electrode pulsesequence within a time window, and FIG. 7E illustrates an example of atemporal masking decay function MD(t3-t4) as a function of the timedifference between a leading electrode pulse, e.g. electrode pulse t3and a masked (lagging) pulse, e.g. electrode pulse t4. The temporalmasking decay function MD(t3-t4) is associated with the masking of thepulse on channel/electrode 3 by the pulse on channel/electrode 4.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example where the masking model scheme includesboth the determination of the spatial masking contributions and thedetermination of the temporal masking contributions. In another examplethe processor unit 3 is configured to determine the importance valuebased on either or both spatial masking contributions and temporalmasking contributions. The processor unit 3 may shift between usingeither both contributions or just one of the contributions, and wherethe shift is determined based on the number of selected electrodes ofthe main set of electrodes. For example, if the processor unit 3 selectsto include temporal masking contribution and no electrodes has animportance value which is above an importance threshold value, then theprocessor unit 3 may shift to use both temporal and spatial maskingcontributions or to use spatial masking contribution alone.

FIGS. 9A to 9D illustrates different examples of the cochlear implantsystem 1 including a sensor (50A-50D) for measuring parameters to beused in determine the status of the electrode pulses. The measurementsmay be performed during fitting and/or during operation of the cochlearimplant system 1. In FIG. 9A, the electrode array 4 is arranged withinthe cochlea 10 of the user. The electrode array 4 includes both theelectrodes 5 configured for stimulating the auditory nerves 11 of thecochlea 10 and the sensors (50A-50D). In FIG. 9B, the electrode array 4is a flexible printed circuit board 51 or a flexible substrate 51 whichincludes a first layer 52, a second layer 53 and a third layer 54. Thefirst layer 52 includes the plurality of electrodes 5, the second layer53 is an insulator layer, and the third layer 53 includes the sensors(50A-50D). The pulse energy level of each electrode is determined by theprocessor unit 3 alone or based on measurements performed by the sensors(50A-50D) or the electrodes 5. The sensors (50A-50D) are connected tothe processor unit 3 and configured to measure the stimulation providedby the electrodes. The measured stimulation may include the measuredparameters, such as the pulse energy level and/or a noise floor level,and the measured parameters are transferred to the processor unit 3. Theprocessor unit 3 may be configured to determine a signal-to-noise ratioof an electrode 5 based on the measured parameters.

Optionally, the second layer may be removed for reducing the thicknessof the electrode array 4.

The sensors (50A-50D) and/or the electrodes 5 may be used for performingeCAP measurements.

In FIGS. 9C and 9D, the sensor 50 is arranged on the implant part 30 oron the external part 20. In this example, the sensor is configured tomeasure cognitive load of the user, and the processor unit is configuredto control the cross-electrode interference based on the measuredcognitive load. The sensor may be part of the electrode array 4, theimplant part 30 or the external part 20. The sensor may include one ormore electrode pads made of IrO2.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a known ‘N-of-M’ type electrode selectionoften employed in sound coding strategies that generate electrode pulsesat a stimulation rate that is either fixed or variable over-time andacross electrodes. In cochlear implant systems with fixed stimulationrate, the time windows (TW1-TW10) within which N-of-M selection isperformed are set so that is possible for an equal number of events(i.e. pulses) to be present on each electrode, and no electrode enjoys aselection advantage at any given time due to the stimulation rate atwhich events occur. However, when sound coding strategies are insteadbased on events that occur at stimulation rates that vary over-time andacross electrodes, electrodes with higher event rates may receive aselection advantage over low-rate electrodes by virtue of containingmore events in the time windows within which N-of-M selection isexecuted.

In FIG. 2A, the total electrodes of the plurality of electrodes is setto 3 (M) and a subset of the plurality of electrodes is set to 2 (N). Inthis example, the selection of the electrodes is applied to a fixed-ratesound coding strategy. The stimulation rate is such that each timewindows (TW1-TW10) comprises an event, i.e. an electrode pulse, on eachelectrodes 5. The abscissa denotes the time windows while the ordinatecorresponds to electrode index. The value displayed in each electrodecell indicates the importance value of the contained active event.Electrodes selected in each time windows are marked with a circle. Forexample, in first time window TW1 two electrodes are selected with animportance value of 4 and 5, respectively. The two electrodes areselected because they both have the highest importance value of thethree electrodes. The selections of the two electrodes are preservedthroughout the time windows TW1 to TW4, and in time window TW5, a thirdelectrode is selected over one of the two previously selectedelectrodes. Again, the importance value of the two selected electrodesare the highest of the three electrodes. The selected electrodes arepreserved in time window TW6.

In FIG. 2B, the total electrodes of the plurality of electrodes is setto 3 and a subset of the plurality of electrodes is set to 2. In thisexample, the selection of the electrodes is applied to a variable-ratesound coding strategy, where the stimulation rates increase withelectrode index. The abscissa denotes the time epoch while the ordinatecorresponds to electrode index, and where indicates the absence of anevent, i.e. an electrode pulse. The value displayed in eachelectrode-epoch cell indicates the importance value of the containedevent. This illustrated scenario could represented, for example,conditions where there is speech with high energy low frequency contentin the present of higher frequency noise. Electrodes selected in eachepoch, i.e. time window, are marked with a circle. In this example,there are time windows when low-importance events on the high-ratechannel are selected purely because there are no events on the otherchannels. These low importance pulses would potentially interfere themore important events on other electrodes indicated with the broken-lineboxes.

FIGS. 3A-3C, illustrate an example of the processor unit selecting andreserving N number of electrodes of a plurality of electrodes (M) with avariable-rate sound coding strategy and where the stimulation ratesincrease with electrode index. Furthermore, FIG. 3A-3C illustrates howthe disclosure is solving the problem of the known ‘N-of-M’ typeelectrode selection scheme illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

In FIG. 3A, the abscissa denotes the time epoch while the ordinatecorresponds to electrode index, with indicating the absence of an event.The value displayed in each electrode-epoch cell indicates theimportance value of the electrode pulses. The selected electrodes ineach time window are marked with a circle, and those which are inreserved mode are indicated by a box around and those blocked fromselection by another electrode in a reserved mode are indicated with across.

In first time window TW1, the processor unit 3 has selected the twoelectrodes which have an importance value which is either equal to orlarger than an importance threshold value. The selected electrodes arepart of a main set (MS, 41) of electrodes of the plurality of electrodes(4,5). In this example, the importance threshold value is 3. In timewindows TW2 and TW3, the reserved electrodes are not active, that meansno electrode pulses are assigned to those electrodes. During these timewindows, i.e. TW2 and TW3, the processor unit 3 is not allowed to selectthe electrode which is active because the importance value of theelectrode/electrode pulse is below the importance threshold value.However, if the importance value of the electrode not being reserved hadan importance value which is equal to or above the importance thresholdvalue, e.g. see time windows TW5 and TW6, then the processor unit 3would not be allowed to select the electrode. The reservation of theelectrodes is denoted as being ‘hard’-reserved.

In time window TW4, the processor unit 3 is configured to select asubset 42 of electrodes of the main set 41 of electrodes, because theimportance value of the selected electrode is larger or equal to theimportance threshold value,

During time window TW1, the processor unit 3 activates two electrodes 5of the electrode array 4 for stimulating the auditory nerves of theuser's cochlea. In time window TW4, only one electrode is selected forstimulation of the auditory nerves, and so on for the other timewindows.

In FIG. 3B, the importance value registered during the time window thatelectrode entered the reserved mode is held over the duration of thereservation period. The abscissa denotes the time epoch while theordinate corresponds to channel/electrode index, with indicating theabsence of an event. The value displayed in each channel/electrode-epochcell indicates the ‘importance’ value of the contained event; largerfont numbers indicate the importance value of event channels while smallfont-sized numbers indicate importance to electrodes in a reservationmode. Electrodes selected in each time window are marked with a circle,those in reserved mode are indicated by the small font-sized numbers,and those blocked from selection by another electrode in a reserved modeare indicated with a ‘x’. In this example, the processor unit 3 isconfigured to select a subset 42 of electrodes of the plurality ofelectrodes (40,5) and/or of the main set 41 of electrodes during thereservation period, see e.g. time windows TW4 to TW7, and TW10, whereineach of the electrodes of the subset of electrodes has an importancevalue that is larger or equal to the importance threshold value. In forexample time window TW6, the processor unit 3 has selected twoelectrodes, one from the main set 41 and one from the plurality 40 ofelectrodes which includes electrodes that are not part of the main setof electrodes. In TW5, the processor unit 3 has selected one electrodewhich is part of the plurality of electrodes 40.

The processor unit 3 is configured to activate the electrodes 5 of thesubset 42 of electrodes to stimulate auditory nerves based on theelectrode pulses of the plurality of electrode pulses.

In FIG. 3C, the importance value of a reserved electrode is updated oneach time window (TW1-TW10) during the duration of a reservation period.The abscissa denotes the time window while the ordinate corresponds toelectrode index. The value displayed in each electrode-time window cellindicates the importance value of the contained electrode pulse, i.e.the event; larger font numbers indicate the importance value ofelectrode pulses while small font-sized numbers indicate importance toelectrode pulses in a reservation mode. To illustrate the differencebetween this implementation, and the one in FIG. 3B, electrodes thathave been additionally selected or rejected in this implementation aremarked with a circle or cross respectively.

Time window, TW9, of FIG. 3c , an example of a tie-break is seen betweenthree active electrodes pulses carrying electrodes having the sameimportance metric value. Only a subset of those electrodes can beselected. In this scenario, a ‘tie-breaker’ importance value could beassigned by the processor unit 3 to the electrodes being part of thetie-breaker. The tie-breaker importance value must be different from theimportance value or from the importance value previously defined, e.g.in time window TW8, and could include: channel center frequency, pulseenergy, Signal-to-noise-ratio, interaural coherence, periodicity, etc.

The tie-breaker importance value of the electrodes is not shown in FIG.3 c.

The processor unit 3 may be configured to update the main set 41 ofelectrodes by adding a new electrode 5 of the plurality of electrodes 4to the main set 41 of electrodes where the importance value of the newelectrode is larger or equal to the first threshold importance value(Thimp_1).

The processor unit 3 may be configured to renew the reservation periodof an electrode 5 of the main set 41 of electrodes when a new electrodepulse generating event occurs on that electrode 5 with an importancevalue that is greater than or equal to the importance threshold value(Thimp).

The processor unit 3 may be configured to remove an electrode 5 from themain set 41 of electrodes when the reservation period of that electrode5 has expired, and before that reservation period could be renewed

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of determining the importance thresholdvalue (Thimp). A minimum importance threshold value (Thimp_min) isdetermined by summing a noise floor NF of the electrode array 4 (i.e. ofthe cochlear implant system 1) and a safety margin ΔS of 1 to 3 dB. Thenoise estimation NF may be in average 20 dB SPL and the chosen safetymargin ΔS is 3 dB, and the resulting minimum importance threshold value(Thimp_min) is set to 23 dB SPL.

The minimum importance threshold value (Thimp_min) may be any measurableparameter of an electrode pulse, such as a center frequency,signal-to-noise ratio, noise floor, and electrode pulse energy.

Then, a minimum importance value (Imp_min) of the subset 42 and/or mainset 41 of electrodes may be determined based on the assigned importancevalue of the subset 42 and/or main set 41 of electrodes, respectively.In this example, the electrode indexes which are part of the main set 41are E6, E5 and E2, and the importance value of each electrodes is 5, 5,and 4, respectively. The electrode indexes which are part of the sub set42 are E3, E1 and E0, and the importance value of each electrodes is 4,5, and 4, respectively.

Then, the importance threshold value (Thimp) may be equal to the minimumimportance value (imp_min) if the minimum importance value (imp_min) islarger or equal to the minimum importance threshold value (Thimp_min).

The importance threshold value (Thimp) may be equal to the minimumimportance threshold value (Thimp_min) if the minimum importance value(imp_min) is smaller than the minimum importance threshold value(Thimp_min).

1. A cochlear implant system comprising; a microphone unit configured toreceive an acoustical signal and transmit an audio signal based on theacoustical signal, a processor unit configured to receive the audiosignal and process the audio signal into a plurality of electrodepulses, an electrode array including a plurality of electrode configuredto stimulate auditory nerves of a user of the cochlear implant systembased on the plurality of electrode pulses, a memory unit including amasking model scheme including masking contributions of the plurality ofelectrode pulses provided to the plurality of electrodes, and whereinthe processor unit is configured to determine and assign an importancevalue to one or more electrodes of the plurality of electrodes, whereineach of the importance values is determined based on a status of anelectrode pulse of the plurality of electrode pulses assigned to therespective electrode, and wherein the status includes an amount ofacross-electrode interference induced to the electrode pulse from one ormore electrode pulses, and the status is determined based on a maskingmodel scheme.
 2. A cochlear implant system according to claim 1, whereinthe processor unit is configured to select a main set of electrodes (MS)of the plurality of electrodes (M) during a time window, where theimportance value of each of the selected electrodes of the main set ofelectrodes MS) is larger or equal to an importance threshold value, andto activate the electrodes of the main set of electrodes to stimulateauditory nerves based on the electrode pulses of the plurality ofelectrode pulses.
 3. A cochlear implant system according to claim 1,wherein the status of the electrode pulse of an electrode of theplurality of electrodes includes a determined amount of across-electrodeinterference induced on the electrode pulse of the electrode by one ormore electrode pulses of other electrodes of the plurality of electrodesbased on the masking model scheme, wherein the masking model schemecomprises: determining spatial masking contributions of each of the oneor more electrode pulses of the other electrodes induced on theelectrode pulse of the electrode based on a spatial separation betweenthe electrode and each of the other electrodes.
 4. A cochlear implantsystem according to claim 1, wherein the status of the electrode pulseof an electrode of the plurality of electrodes includes a determinedamount of across-electrode interference induced on the electrode pulseof the electrode by one or more electrode pulses of other electrodes ofthe plurality of electrodes based on the masking model scheme, whereinthe masking model scheme comprises: determining temporal maskingcontributions of each of the one or more electrode pulses of the otherelectrodes induced on the electrode pulse of the electrode based on apulse time difference between a first time of the electrode pulse of theelectrode and a second time of each of the one or more electrode pulsesof the other electrodes, wherein the second time is preceding to thefirst time.
 5. A cochlear implant system according to claim 3, whereinthe masking model scheme comprises both the determining of the spatialmasking contributions and the determining of temporal maskingcontributions.
 6. A cochlear implant system according to claim 5,wherein the determined spatial masking contribution from each of theelectrode pulses of the other electrodes is multiplied by a temporalmasking decay function including the pulse time difference between theelectrode pulse of the electrode and each of the electrode pulses of theother electrode.
 7. A cochlear implant system according to claim 6,wherein the temporal masking decay function is an exponential factorincluding a time constant and/or the pulse time difference, and whereinthe time constant is either the same or different for each of theelectrodes of the plurality of electrodes.
 8. A cochlear implant systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor unit is configured todetermine a spatial masking contribution function and/or a temporalmasking contribution of each electrode of the plurality of electrodesby; providing a first stimulation with a first stimulation level to afirst electrode of the plurality of electrodes, providing a secondstimulation with a second stimulation level to a second electrode of theplurality of electrodes, measuring a plurality of spatial maskingcontributions or a plurality of temporal masking contributions from thefirst electrode to the second electrode at different second stimulationlevels by measuring an electrically evoked compound action potential ofthe second electrode or by behavioral psychophysical measures of a userof the cochlear implant system, and wherein the spatial maskingcontribution function or the temporal masking contribution includes theplurality of spatial masking contributions or the temporal maskingcontributions, respectively.
 9. A cochlear implant system according toclaim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to control thecross-electrode interference by changing the first time of the electrodepulse of the electrode and/or the preceding time of each of the one ormore electrode pulses of the other electrodes, or by applying a timedelay between a first time window and a second time window, wherein inboth of the time windows the processor unit is configured to select asubset of electrodes of the plurality of electrodes and/or to selectelectrodes of the main set of electrode of the plurality of electrodes.10. A cochlear implant system according to claim 1, wherein theprocessor unit is configured to determine the status of an electrodepulse, by determining either; a masking adjusted energy/charge/levelincluding an estimated pulse energy/charge/level of the electrode pulseminus the amount of across-electrode interference induced to theelectrode pulse from the one or more electrode pulses of the otherelectrodes, or a masking adjusted energy/charge/level that comprises theestimated pulse energy/charge/level of that electrode pulse multipliedby an across-electrode interference scaling factor that includes aneffective energy/charge/level of the electrode pulse after consideringthe amount of across-electrode interference induced to the electrodepulse from the one or more electrode pulses of the other electrodes,whereby the effective energy/charge/level provides an estimate of theenergy/charge/level that would yield the same amount of activity in theauditory nerve as the pulse of interest, if across-electrodeinterference was absent.
 11. A cochlear implant system according toclaim 10, wherein the processor unit is configured to select electrodesof the main set of electrodes or of the subset of electrodes whichresults in a total masking-adjusted/weighted energy/charge/level whichis maximized, and where the total masking-adjusted/weightedenergy/charge/level includes a summation of themasking-adjusted/weighted energy/charge/level of each of the electrodepulses of the selected electrodes.
 12. A cochlear implant systemaccording to claim 10, wherein the processing unit is configured toamplify the pulse energy/charge/level of the electrode pulse.
 13. Amethod for selecting a main set of electrodes of a plurality ofelectrodes for a cochlear implant system, the method comprising:receiving an acoustical signal and transmitting an audio signal based onthe acoustical signal, processing the audio signal into a plurality ofelectrode pulses, determining a status of the electrode pulse of theplurality of electrode pulses based on a masking model ofacross-electrode interferences imposed on that electrode pulse by otherelectrode pulses of the plurality of electrode pulses, assigning animportance value to one or more electrode of the plurality ofelectrodes, wherein each of the importance values is determined based ona status of the electrode pulse assigned to the respective electrode,and wherein the status of the electrode pulse of the plurality ofelectrode pulses is determined based on a masking model ofacross-electrode interferences imposed on the electrode pulse by otherelectrode pulses of the plurality of electrode pulses. selecting a mainset of electrodes (1N) of the plurality of electrodes (M) during a timewindow, where the importance value of each of the selected electrodes(N) of the main set of electrodes is larger or equal to an importancethreshold value, activating the electrodes of the main set of electrodesto stimulate auditory nerves based on the electrode pulses of theplurality of electrode pulses.
 14. A method according to claim 13,comprising selecting a main set of electrodes of the plurality ofelectrodes during a time window, where the importance value of each ofthe selected electrodes of the main set of electrodes is larger or equalto an importance threshold value, and activating the electrodes of themain set of electrodes to stimulate auditory nerves based on theelectrode pulses of the plurality of electrode pulses.
 15. A methodaccording to claim 13, the masking model scheme comprising: determiningspatial masking contributions of each of the one or more electrodepulses of the other electrodes induced on the electrode pulse of theelectrode based on a spatial separation between the electrode and eachof the other electrodes.
 16. A method according to claim 14, the maskingmodel scheme comprising: determining temporal masking contributions ofeach of the one or more electrode pulses of the other electrodes inducedon the electrode pulse of the electrode based on a pulse time differencebetween a first time of the electrode pulse of the electrode and asecond time of each of the one or more electrode pulses of the otherelectrodes, wherein the second time is preceding to the first time. 17.A method according to claim 15, the masking model scheme comprisingdetermining of the spatial masking contributions and the determining oftemporal masking contributions. determining temporal maskingcontributions of each of the one or more electrode pulses of the otherelectrodes induced on the electrode pulse of the electrode based on apulse time difference between a first time of the electrode pulse of theelectrode and a second time of each of the one or more electrode pulsesof the other electrodes, wherein the second time is preceding to thefirst time.
 18. A cochlear implant system according to claim 2, whereinthe status of the electrode pulse of an electrode of the plurality ofelectrodes includes a determined amount of across-electrode interferenceinduced on the electrode pulse of the electrode by one or more electrodepulses of other electrodes of the plurality of electrodes based on themasking model scheme, wherein the masking model scheme comprises:determining spatial masking contributions of each of the one or moreelectrode pulses of the other electrodes induced on the electrode pulseof the electrode based on a spatial separation between the electrode andeach of the other electrodes.
 19. A cochlear implant system according toclaim 2, wherein the status of the electrode pulse of an electrode ofthe plurality of electrodes includes a determined amount ofacross-electrode interference induced on the electrode pulse of theelectrode by one or more electrode pulses of other electrodes of theplurality of electrodes based on the masking model scheme, wherein themasking model scheme comprises: determining temporal maskingcontributions of each of the one or more electrode pulses of the otherelectrodes induced on the electrode pulse of the electrode based on apulse time difference between a first time of the electrode pulse of theelectrode and a second time of each of the one or more electrode pulsesof the other electrodes, wherein the second time is preceding to thefirst time.
 20. A cochlear implant system according to claim 4, whereinthe masking model scheme comprises both the determining of the spatialmasking contributions and the determining of temporal maskingcontributions.